Review of Last Night in Soho (2021) by Spartan_117 — 23 Nov 2021

I love Edgar Wright, he's one of my favourite contemporary creatives and some of his works rank amongst my top favourites such as Hot Fuzz and Spaced. Naturally, I was eager to check out his latest offering, something that's different from his normal body of work. Last Night in Soho (2021) is a Horror, Mystery, Drama about an enthusiastic aspiring designer from the countryside going to a prestigious London college of arts where she encounters the ability to visit the city in the 60s that starts wreaking havoc in her life after the glam and glimmer subsides. The film shines when it comes to the cinematography, editing, set designs, soundtrack, and costumes, where even with the restraint shown, justified for the story and tone, you still get that Edgar Wright style that makes his movies stand out. It can be gorgeous with some amazing camera work and long takes. I enjoyed the performances too. Thomasin McKenzie as the lead was able to carry the film on her shoulders quite well, for the most part. Accompanying her was the gorgeous Anya Taylor-Joy who, as in pretty much everything else I've seen her in, was great. The supporting cast does a good enough job.

For the first half or so, you aren't exactly sure where the story is going and the mystery was enticing although, the themes weren't original nor were the social commentary and a lot of it was only superficially deep. Still, the horror elements intertwined with the tale plus the execution made it entertaining albeit not nearly as hard-hitting as I'd hoped it would be. However, when everything starts panning out around the final act, the story just fumbled and got all floompy. You can surely understand the tragic tale the film is going for but the writing leaves a lot to be desired. The entire finale was unsatisfactory which sadly brought down the whole experience for me.

I always appreciate it when an artist tries to branch out into different genres from what they're known for and I do applaud Edgar Wright for doing that but this is, without a doubt, the weakest of his works I've experienced. I'd still recommend it giving it a try, you might enjoy it a lot more than me. But as it stands, this was a disappointing watch for me but there were still elements I appreciated and was also entertained for a lot of the runtime. And if I were to rate it, I'd give it a 6.5/10.